Organisational and process change to release capacity

Where we started

Our client a statutory body in Ireland faced a severe backlog and was concerned that the main process was significantly strained. In addition, its remit was extended to take responsibility for additional public services.

Pathfinder was invited to review the organisational structure and key processes for improvement.

The challenges

The organisation had not changed its structures since 1984. It lacked flexibility, responsiveness and was no longer ‘fit for purpose’. The biggest challenge was the team’s disposition, they were sceptical of its ability to achieve meaningful change.

What we did

We worked with the internal design team of 10 staff and assessed the organisation’s capacity to meet current and anticipated demand. To demonstrate the challenges and breakdowns facing the organisation we then socialised our finding with the broader team within our client.

Together we designed a radically different citizen demand handlings process and redesigned the organisation to support the new process and give flexibility.

To ensure a successful management of the new processes we took the backlogs away from the ‘business as usual team’ and created a special team to eradicate them.

The outcome

The new design organisational structure was implemented in full and allowed a more flexible approach to managing demand. Our client extended its remit to manage the increased demand without increased headcount. The backlogs were completely eradicated within 6 months, ahead of schedule.